At long last, racing has officially announced the arrival of British Champions' Day, with £3 million in prize money making it the richest fixture in British racing history.

It will be staged at Ascot on 15 Oct 2011, with a six-race card that officials hope can be built into an extravaganza to rival the Breeders' Cup and Arc day.

Almost simultaneously on Thursday, the British Horseracing Authority revealed that the Fixture List for 2011 is to be trimmed from 1,503 to 1,480.

In the harsh financial climate, racing's rulers have cut their cloth and 164 meetings will not receive Levy Board prize money contributions, but deals have been done between the Horseman's Group, racecourses and bookmakers on funding, thus the minimal reduction of 23 to the excessively high number of fixtures.

As expected, the July Cup and the Ebor are to be run on Saturday in 2011. An unexpected twist, however, will be the switch of Aintree's Becher Chase meeting from a Sunday in November to a Saturday in December. The sight of horses streaming over Becher's Brook (above), it is hoped, will act as an added attraction to viewers and complement Sandown's Tingle Creek meeting.

Enormous interest and comment has been generated by confirmation of Ascot's Champions' Day, predicted in the Daily Telegraph in May. This will mark the third attempt in the past two decades to create a raceday that can fascinate the racing fan and draw in the casual sports enthusiast.

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Many moons ago, Ascot came up with the Festival of British Racing, which featured a string of top races, only for that to be surpassed by Newmarket's own 'Champions' Day'. Now, we will be getting bits and pieces of both, beefed up by the marketing men and presented in a package that can be sold to a broadcaster.

This is all about branding and broadening the appeal of British racing around the world and according to Nick Smith, Ascot's Head of Communications, no broadcaster has yet been contracted. "This is a new fixture. It is not QEII day [BBC] transferred, or Champion Stakes day [Channel 4] crossing over. It is up for grabs, and we've had conversations with both terrestrial broadcasters," he said.

Smith was enthusiastic about the venture, which promises to bring Britain into line with France, the United States and Australia, all of whom have racedays with multiple Group One races. "There is real weight behind this. It has all the hallmarks of success. The money's there. It will come from the racecourses, REL (the BHA's commercial arm) and sponsorship – guaranteed for one year initially.

There is one red herring, however, and what is being called the British Champions' Series, comprised of 30 races from five categories – sprint, mile, middle distance, fillies and mares, long distance. There is no series, as such, there are no points accumulated in each of the categories and there will be no champion declared.

"They [the races] are signposts for newcomers to racing," explained Nick Attenborough, of Racing For Change. "It is marketing material for a broader base. It is saying to people [outside of racing], these races are really important. And you might see some of the horses appearing again on British Champions' Day at Ascot," he stated.

Baker to train at Whitsbury

George Baker signed a five-year lease on Whitsbury Manor Stables yesterday and will send out his first runners from the historic training base in January onwards.

Baker, 45, will be taking 65 horses with him from his present base near Warwick, which he has put up for sale. He takes over in the yard where Desert Orchid was trained from Ralph Beckett, who is moving to his own yard at Andover.

"It's a fantastic opportunity and to be mentioned in the same breath as Whitsbury two-and-a-half years after sending out our first winner is fantastic," he said. "The facilities are beyond compare."